The July 23rd member’s meeting was held at the Kings Fork Community House. Dinner consisted of a great taco bar and a selection of deserts. It was apparently good because the serving trays were completely emptied.
The guest speakers for the meeting were Dennis Bagley (left) and Henry Strickland (below). Dennis was the primary speaker and is the Executive Director and Henry is the Director of Operations for the Southeastern Public Service Authority (SPSA). 
Mr. Bagley presented an in-depth briefing on the proposed regional landfill expansion project. SPSA is a not for profit (NFP) Government Authority authorized under 15.2-5102.2 of the Code of Virginia. Their mission is to provide an efficient and responsible waste management system that serves the needs of member communities. Those member communities include the cities of Chesapeake, Franklin, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk and Virginia Beach as well as the counties of Isle of Wight and Southampton. They serve 1.2 million citizens.
Current available landfill capacity only provides for disposal through June of 2027 at the projected waste volumes. Additional capacity is needed to meet the 40 years of disposal capacity SPSA is required to provide to the region. SPSA has been working for approximately three years on an Environmental Impact Statement which includes alternative analysis both on the existing site and off site as well as mitigation of wetlands impact.
There is a public hearing scheduled for July 26th in Suffolk from 5-7pm at the East Suffolk Recreation Center, 138 S. 6th Street. There is a second public hearing scheduled on July 27th in Ivor from 5-7pm at The Ivor Town Hall, 8430 Bell Avenue. The purpose of these hearings is to take comments on the proposed project and the draft environmental impact study. Public comments will be accepted on the project until August 15th.
After the SPSA presentation, chapter elections were held for the 2023-2024 session. There were no nominations from the floor so ballots were handed out and then collated. The elected Officers and Board members will be sworn in during the August 16th member’s meeting. You can see the results of the election by going to the chapter website and clicking on the Member tab and scrolling down to Leadership 2023-2024.